Chapter 508 Facing the Dilemma of Mars-Insect Swarm

Mars, the second closest planet to the Earth, has a thick atmosphere compared to Venus. Due to the cooling of the earth's core and the disappearance of the planet's magnetic field, the surface atmosphere of Mars is largely stripped away by the solar wind.

 Because there are traces of life on the Martian meteorites obtained, Mars should have had a thick atmosphere in the past, but now it has become a desolate planet.

 Compared to the atmospheric concentration of one percent on Earth, and due to the lack of magnetic field and atmospheric protection, it is directly attacked by solar wind and cosmic rays. It can be said that the difficulty of survival on Mars today is absolutely hellish.

If life still exists on Mars today, there is a high probability that it must also exist underground.

 Compared with the negative BUFF stacks such as dryness, radiation, storms, and thin atmosphere on Mars, the deserts and seafloor on Earth can be said to be paradise-like environments.

 The difficulty of terraforming is much simpler than that of terraforming Mars.

However, if there are enough silver mines on Mars, it would be logical to complete the mining and build a pioneer base.

 Now, this egg sheath of the Zerg has also fallen on Mars...

 …

In the dark and cold space, 'Starship II' has stopped the process of chemical acceleration. At this time, it has also turned on the solar panels, relying on the Hall thruster to occasionally adjust its direction and start to decelerate, and its size has also shrunk. A lot.

Because of the use of high-power propulsion such as rocket engines in space, and the smaller mass after discarding several segments, the speed of 'Starship II' at this time is actually faster than that of the huge 'Starship I'!

ˆ Relying on the connection with the ground control room, the deceleration process has also been entered at this time.

In the ground control room of SX Space Exploration Company, all staff are highly focused on monitoring various data at this time.

Positioning in space is also quite cumbersome, especially if there are insufficient satellite positioning at this location, it is even more difficult to determine.

But fortunately, NASA also has satellites on Mars, and with more controls, it is still completely under control.

“BOSS, our original design was to land and drill into the asteroid. Currently, based on the gravity of Mars, we have no problem getting the starship into Mars orbit, but it is almost impossible to achieve precise bomb delivery.”

Researchers who were recording various parameters of the starship and making predictions also gave back some regrettable news.

Preparing to land on an asteroid in the first place is completely different from landing on Mars now!

Intercontinental ballistic missiles are important weapons for all countries. Even if there is no satellite positioning, they can physically complete the 'positioning' of a general range by relying on gyroscopes.

 Because strategic nuclear weapons are used for the strike, although the error will not be small, it is completely sufficient.

Many cruise missiles will also use this physical guidance method in the mid-course to reduce the possibility of being detected.

But the reason why gyroscopes are successful is because humans already have a good understanding of various parameters of the earth. Using the principle of gyroscopes, ballistic missiles can be regarded as knowing the corresponding physical parameters and hitting the ground in one direction.

  After all, most of the targets of strategic bombing are immobile cities, so just ensure that direction.

It is so difficult to achieve this kind of accuracy on Earth, and it is undoubtedly even more difficult to control various parameters of Mars at present.

What's more, when it was first launched, it never expected that it would eventually choose to bomb Mars, and the equipment and design plans it carried were not prepared for this aspect, which would lead to disastrous accuracy.

 Mars’ gravity alone can cause enough tearing and destruction.

Fortunately, the European Space Agency's satellite captured the picture of the asteroid falling. It can be roughly determined that it is in the approximate area of ​​​​Mars. By comparing the photos sent back by several existing Mars satellites, the direction can be roughly determined.

 Otherwise, it can really be said that you are looking for a needle in a haystack.

“You have to try even if it’s not accurate. The error is acceptable for a one-megaton nuclear bomb, but don’t we also carry a probe? Can the probe complete the landing on Mars?”

 Because it can be launched in space, Starship II is prepared to carry a lot of things.

 There are unmanned detectors, nuclear bomb earth drills and so on.

 And there are three probes alone, and there are even moving mechanical legs that take into account the arrival of the asteroid, and the cushioning air cushion when hitting the asteroid at high speed.

“Indeed, there is, but the situation on Mars was not considered at the beginning. Although the protection was large enough considering the speed of the impact, it was not certain that it would be able to land safely, and the landing position would be quite deviated due to the influence of Mars’ gravity.”

The researcher sighed. After all, it was not a specialized Mars exploration equipment.

"It doesn't matter if there are deviations. We can just go down and make samples and find a position. They all carry detectors, so the situation should be similar. As long as the number of detectors increases, Umbrella's data link sharing technology can also be used for our subsequent bomb drops. Increase the level of precision.”

Masra didn’t care about the success or failure of the detector, he just wanted to achieve his goal!

 “Let’s get in touch with each other and see what Umbrella is going to do…”

But this time, he still knows who the big brother is.

 The others combined are less than the size of Umbrella's spaceship.

 Although their side seems to be faster in terms of speed, in fact it is just that their mass accelerates slower.

And compared to their one-time chemical combustion, the more it burns, the smaller the mass. Their thrusters use plasma thrusters similar to Hall thrusters, and are assisted by solar sails. The efficiency is completely different. of.

 There is an obvious technological generation gap!

　To put it bluntly, I am still thinking like a rocket before, but others are really thinking about the stars!

It's not that he doesn't know the benefits of these structures, but that Umbrella has already made corresponding plans based on his own technology, and he has to make temporary adjustments.

 It would be nice to be able to tinker with Starship II...

 …

“Our company also agrees with SX Company’s suggestion. The enemy this time is very troublesome. Those who reach the orbit first can try to drop the bomb first without waiting for us.”

 Umbrella publicly responded and made some arrangements.

 Those who arrive first can launch their detectors!

No matter what, let the detectors land first, and then complete the sharing of signals with each other. With Umbrella's satellite data connection technology, the connection between the detectors and each spacecraft can be directly completed.

 In this way, with the detector as positioning, the subsequent bombing can be more accurate.

“Our company’s spacecraft has an intra-atmospheric operational vehicle. However, because the Martian atmosphere is too thin, the vehicle cannot last too long relying solely on jets. After the attack is completed, the robot can be arranged to land for inspection..."

However, following Umbrella's response, some of the previous twists and turns due to information leaks also occurred again, and some self-financed Saints of the White Left began to leave messages asking for help.

 Said that since the visitor is not an abyssal creature, we can communicate with him first.

This kind of spontaneous behavior of the Holy Virgin opening her mouth actually makes people feel a little funny...

 Chapter 722

“No way! Creatures like the Holy Mother really deserve to die!”

“It’s so urgent. Are you still talking about whether to bomb or not? If the bombing fails for the first time, it will become more and more troublesome in the future. This can be regarded as our strongest weapon.”

“But one thing to say, although I don’t support Our Lady, I support that if there is a chance to talk, we can talk first, because if you directly show hostility, not all problems will become problems.”

 "How to talk? How to gain trust? This is the law of the dark forest..."

“So blowing it up is the safest move.”

“Umbrella, stick to your heart, we will help you scold them...”

　　　…”

 While a few Holy Mothers stood up to appeal, fortunately most people were still normal.

Furthermore, in Umbrella's style, he didn't care about these moral kidnappings and just responded casually on the official website.

“We are now preparing to build the second batch of detectors. Those who want to have contact and communicate with them can sign up now. We can give you a ride, and you can try to influence them with love.”

As soon as these words came out, those calls were reduced by most of them.

What?

 You want us to talk about it ourselves?

 impossible, absolutely impossible!

 It must be up to you to talk about it, we are only responsible for making appeals.

However, Umbrella's words made many people on Old Morgan's side light up.

 “We seem to be able to make some arrangements.”

“Yes, we can use experimental subjects possessed by monsters to see if they have any, and implant chips into their bodies.”

 “But Umbrella will check it out.”

“They have nothing to say about mechanical inspections, and it would be too humiliating to conduct such inspections on people.”

 “So what if it’s humiliation?”

Hearing this rhetorical question, they were immediately silenced. Yes, what if people are humiliating you now?

 The mecha knocking on the door has happened before, and there is nothing we can do about it.

"No matter what, we can try! If this Zerg is really what Lord Enzo said, it can be used!"

“Let’s see if they can withstand the first wave of nuclear explosions first…”

"Actually, we all know that as long as they dig underground, the first wave of nuclear explosions will not pose a great threat to them. What we are dealing with now is an information gap."

 Various nuclear defense fortifications are not just decorations. The direct damage range of nuclear bombs to underground targets is really quite limited. The previous hydrogen bomb with a yield of 500,000 tons in New York fully illustrates this point.

If you hide in a subway station 50 meters underground, the nearest survivor is 500 meters away from the explosion center.

 Now, the main reason is that the bugs don’t know the power of nuclear bombs, and they don’t know whether they will dig so deep after landing!

“It’s a pity that we don’t have contact information now, otherwise it would be nice to remind them.”

“Yeah, a reminder is enough to show our goodwill!”

“It’s not impossible. We still have some influence on NASA’s detectors. If one can land nearby, maybe we can try it!”

NASA's detectors themselves are equipped with LED screens for "dialogue" and "communication". Although they cannot display any complex color images, there seems to be no problem with pixel images used to display explosions and ground excavations!

“You can try it, remember to show our monogram when the time comes, so that they can remember it...”

 …

 “Boss, do you want to stop them?”

Although the organization will be on guard against artificial intelligence, they took the initiative to communicate with Enzo in this regard, and naturally the news was known to Lin Shiqin.

 “No, just let them be.”

The Zerg are originally creatures with a lot of survival talent. They will dig underground whether you remind them or not. Wang Yi never thought that one wave could solve the problem.

It doesn’t make much difference whether they can get into this gadget or not. It might as well be used as a stepping stone for them...

 “The detector has started to launch.”

“Let’s also prepare for ours. Cross-planet orbital bombing without satellite guidance should be regarded as a drill..."

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　～　　　　　　　　　　　

 …

Mars is directly affected by cosmic radiation. Due to the thin atmosphere, various "sandstorms" are easily produced on the planet. And although the density of Mars' atmosphere is less than one percent of the Earth's, sandstorms can complete global coverage.

Even some previous Mars exploration rovers needed to sleep to survive the dim sandstorm.

As the hull headed by Starship II arrived in Mars orbit, looking down at the planet below, relying on the ultra-high-definition camera produced by Umbrella, it also captured pictures of egg sheaths inserted upside down into the surface.

 Much clearer than the photos taken by previous satellites in Mars orbit.

The long asteroid was like a sharp blade thrust into the land of Mars.

The key is that it hasn't been long since it landed, but some dark purple matter has already spread outwards from where it was inserted upside down.

As the camera continues to zoom in and out, coupled with the clarity and blessing of artificial intelligence, it looks like a carpet formed by slime mold mycelium.

 Some insect eggs just appeared on those carpets of bacteria!

"So fast?"

“No, are they all insect eggs? Have any hatched?”

 “My dear, you’d better blow it up quickly, it looks so evil.”

　　　…”

With the release of the pictures, most of the voices clamoring to give them a chance and not to bomb them immediately have disappeared.

 Why was there no such sound in the first place?

 Because there is an example of the New York invasion here, if it is a creature from the abyss, no matter how stubborn it is, it will not make a voice for "peace", and a very small number of individuals will not have much influence.

The one who will speak later is someone who leaked the information to let them know that this does not seem to be a visitor from the abyss.

 But the speed at which this thing is expanding now, as well as its evil appearance, are enough for normal people to understand that this is not an easy person to deal with!

 We give them a chance…

That also depends on whether they will give us a chance!

 At this time, SX Company also released some pictures of them delivering detectors.

 Because of Umbrella’s communication technology and camera technology innovations, Starship II’s communication and shooting are still very smooth.

From the perspective of the bottom of the starship that entered the orbit of Mars, the three probes were directly ejected.

 This red planet is completely different from the earth. You can vaguely see the sandstorm in the distance in space, and it is full of chaos and uncertainty.

 In addition, the Zerg situation can barely be seen clearly when shooting from orbit.

These three thrown detectors have an inexplicable sense of tragedy.

The other three spacecrafts that have also arrived in orbit also dropped their detectors simultaneously, but they did not conduct corresponding live broadcasts.

"We have a total of fourteen probes, all of which have landing buffer devices. Now we really leave it to fate, because it was not originally designed for Mars. Under the gravity capture of Mars, our ability to interfere with the probes is quite limited. , the main thrusters are used to slow down..."

Masra himself posted a tweet on the social platform, and then said in a heavy tone

“Less than one-third of the detectors expected to be able to successfully operate...”

 After that, he said again

"But they have a role. Even those detectors that may crash, as long as the signal module does not make mistakes, it can complete the positioning on the surface and provide us with more accurate parameters for the next bomb drop. Personally, I feel that we can't wait any longer. It’s going down, the speed of these things is a bit faster than expected, we must solve it at the source..."

 Chapter 723: Insect Swarm

 In the desolate Martian basin, the sticky fungus carpet spreads outward like slime mold. The stones that the fungus carpet passes during the climb are also directly wrapped, and then slowly 'flattened' down the stones.

 In addition to spreading on the surface, these carpets are also penetrating underground.

 Like water, it spreads downward along various cracks in the ground.

The Martian land, which has been baked by the solar wind for many years due to the loss of its magnetic field, has long been riddled with holes, and there are enough traces of these fungi to spread everywhere.

 The source of these bacterial blankets is the asteroid egg sheath inserted upside down on the ground.

 It seems that the egg sheath itself carries a large amount of nutrients and resources to complete the first wave of hatching work.

On top of these carpets, there are densely packed various insect eggs that are contracting like a beating heart.

  You can vaguely see the shadow inside through the sunlight.

Whether it is the insect eggs or the carpet on the ground, the color tends to be dark purple, and it seems that even the sunlight will be scraped off a layer.

Even though it was exposed to direct sunlight, the temperature did not increase at all, and it still looked cold and damp.

Although Mars has extremely poor heat preservation capabilities due to its thin atmosphere, and the temperature is usually tens of degrees below zero or even hundreds of degrees, the temperature can still reach 20 degrees under direct sunlight.

 But now there is only a sense of coldness in this fungus carpet.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 bang

 A huge ball of insect eggs exploded, revealing a giant flesh-and-blood insect that was completely connected to the earth.

 The bottom of the insect seems to have been embedded in the earth, and there is still a lot of mucus left after the insect eggs exploded on the surface.

 But the mucus is also quickly absorbed by its surface, and the excess is also absorbed by the bacteria blanket underneath.

And above this giant insect are densely packed compound eyes that are constantly flashing.

 Then they all looked at the sky, seeming to be locking onto something.

 Paji~Paji~

Another continuous explosion of insect eggs, and a weird insect that could only move appeared.

Each one has eight pairs of abdominal legs, but its head has huge pincers and its body is covered with armor-like cuticles.

As soon as they came out, these bugs instinctively broke through the slime mold on the surface, burrowed into the ground, and soon disappeared.

The hole they drilled into was also covered by the fungus carpet again, and they could only occasionally feel the vibration of digging.

 All genes are full of survival, and can directly cover, decompose and utilize various minerals, so how to keep oneself as safe as possible must also be engraved in the genetic instinct.

  No need for reminder or any prejudgment at all.

 They naturally began to drill into the interior of the planet!

Following the holes drilled by those insects, you can find the complex underground terrain that has always been covered by fungi.

Obviously it hasn’t been long since we landed, but passages extending in all directions have already appeared underground!

You can also see many bugs 'mining' through several passages with obvious vibrations.

 Grind some iron ore directly with your mouthparts and sprinkle it on the fungus carpet on the ground. Then the debris seemed to slowly dissolve in the thick mucus and be transported to various places along the pipes on the fungus carpet!

 There is no machinery, all purely biological evolution points, but the various points are taken to the extreme.

There are also different parts of resources on Mars, but they can adjust and arrange themselves to form different carapace and produce different species according to the specific resources of the landing site and the different element parts!

 This is a biological group that has taken adaptation to the extreme!

 As you continue to spread downwards, you can see the passages extending in all directions, and there are already a lot of mining bugs.

 Finally, in a relatively spacious room, a female insect appeared surrounded by surrounding insects.

 The female insects continuously lay eggs, and the eggs are carried by nearby worker insects and transported to various places. Some of them need to go to the surface to absorb sunlight, and some are placed directly around the iron mine.

 Beside this female insect, there is another figure that is incompatible with the Zerg painting style.

 A four-legged, two-handed creature with horns on its head and densely packed sharp teeth in its mouth.

“Brainworm, aren’t you coming out yet? The goal this time seems not to be simple, we have already been discovered.”

　　The horned creature used the Abyssal language, but received no response.

 He himself kept looking around alertly, appearing very alert, as if he was on guard against something.

 He has done what he did before to drive the Abyss Zerg.

This group was quite simple to control before the birth of the brain worm, and they would just develop in a dull manner, which is easy to use.

 However, after being stimulated and having a stress response, a brain worm was born. This would be a species that would take its cunning to the extreme, and its danger and destructiveness would be greatly enhanced.

 So the best way is to control the brainworm when it is just born.

 Insects without intelligence do not have the fear of death, but cerebral worms do.

But this time, when I actively stimulated the brainworm to be born, it suddenly caused the egg sheath to shift and fall to this inhospitable planet.

 In order to ensure his survival when he fell, he had to give up the search for the brainworm to protect himself.

 But when he landed, he found that the brainworm was gone.

 Only the female worms are still reproducing step by step...

He knew that now he had become the target of the brain worm, which would probably tear him apart or even parasitize him without hesitation whenever he got the chance.

 So we must find the enemy before the insect swarm forms!

“Brain worm, your goal is to ensure the reproduction of this tribe, but if the mother worm dies, what is the meaning of your existence?”

The horned creature continued to speak in Abyssal language while pressing its sharp claws against the fat female insect next to it.

However, the female worm does not seem to feel the threat at all, and is still laying eggs normally. Her fat body is constantly twisting, absorbing necessary elements and nutrients from the carpet.

"How about we talk about a deal? I don't have any ill intentions, I just want to enslave this civilization on behalf of my master. When the time comes, connect to the abyss and open the door. You will continue to multiply here, and we only need to get the souls we want. …”

The claws of the horned creature spread out, and a dark red spell model appeared in front of it and began to make a buzzing sound.

However, after this spell model appeared, it dimmed and brightened, and kept shaking.

The appearance of the nuzzle sound has a feeling of poor contact, as if it may dissipate at any time.

 This made the horned creature feel a sinking feeling in his heart.

 Oops, the magic here is so lazy...

Originally, he just wanted to express a threat, but he didn't expect that the environment here would be so bad.

Almost as soon as he had a bad thought in his mind, many insect shadows appeared in the passages around the underground hall and began to poke their heads.

 Obviously, his previous threatening action not only failed to achieve the effect, but actually made the brainworm keenly aware of his weakness.

　　Giant soldier insects walked out of the passage one after another, approaching, and kept making some tentative roars.

 “What are you doing! Aren’t you afraid that I will kill the female insect?!”

The horned creature roared and took a step back, then stabbed its claws directly into the female insect's body as a threat.

 The sharp claws pierced the body of the obese female insect, and a large amount of yellow-green mucus burst out.

 However, at this moment, he suddenly turned his head and looked at his wrist.

 Seeing that the exploding mucus seemed to be intelligent, it spread rapidly upwards along his wrist.

 He was startled and started to pull hard at the same time.

 But at this moment, his hand seemed to be glued to 502, and the mucus became extremely sticky and tough.

 “Damn it!”

Before he could react, the back of the female insect suddenly split open, and three sharp tentacles fell from the sky at lightning speed and penetrated his head.

 Before he could react, his body was hung up and lifted up.

The horned creature whose head was pierced by the tentacles also lost all resistance at this time. Its scarlet eyes kept turning up, and it was brought to the wound on the female insect's back.

At this time, a petite spider-like insect crawled out from the wound of the mother insect. It was the brain worm that the horned creature had been looking for.

“Those who take advantage of the swarm will eventually be devoured by the swarm.”

The one who opened the mouth was not a brain worm, but a horned creature whose head had been penetrated by tentacles. At this time, the tentacles were constantly devouring and absorbing something. Soon the corpse seemed to have turned into dried bacon and was hung in the cave. top…

　　——

Update completed~

The Abyss Zerg's ability to start so quickly is mainly due to the initial resources and nutrients in the egg sheath, which itself is not such an exaggeration.

　　

 (End of this chapter)